City noise ordinance silenced

Clarkson: I still support music curfew

Despite ongoing revisions and years of studying the impact of sound on New Orleans, the New Orleans City Council on April 24 killed an ordinance to curb noise on Bourbon Street. The ordinance — which had the support of Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration — aimed to cut down noise, particularly heavy bass sounds, coming from bars and businesses on the street.

The proposed ordinance also would have lifted the curfew placed on street musicians from 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. The curfew has been on the books for nearly six decades. District C Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer said the curfew is unconstitutional, as it is not equally applied to all people making noise after a certain time. What remains is a law opponents have called unenforceable and uneven.

The recent battle over a noise ordinance took shape in January when the City Council withdrew a citywide ordinance that used language identical to a document from the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates (VCPORA) and ignored recommendations from a lengthy, City Council-commissioned report from acoustician David Woolworth. Palmer and the Landrieu administration led revisions to a Bourbon Street-focused ordinance using recommendations from Woolworth and input from musicians and business owners.

The resulting proposal shifted enforcement responsibility from the New Orleans Police Department to the city Health Department and made violations civil rather than criminal offenses. It also included instructions for sound measurements, which would be taken five feet from a building when its doors and windows are closed, and would last 20 seconds — instead of the 10-minute rule in present law. The ordinance also aimed to lift the curfew for street musicians, an amendment that could have had citywide implications.

The debate at City Hall last week lasted more than two hours, including attempts to add amendments. "We've been amending and amending, and we're going to find out some of the things we're amending are not legal," said District D Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. "What is the rush? Get it right."

Several public speakers — including WWOZ-FM general manager David Freedman — noted that the City Council was voting on a music issue as thousands of people visit New Orleans for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Clarkson said she "proudly [stood] alone" in her amendment to keep the curfew. "Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater," she said. "I've been the biggest music promoter in the city. ... This is a music preservation ordinance if it's done properly. ... Noise is noise."

With Councilwoman Stacy Head absent, the ordinance failed to pass by a 3-3 vote, with Clarkson, Hedge-Morrell and District B Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell voting against it. The April 24 meeting also was the last for Clarkson, Hedge-Morrell and Palmer before they leave office in May.

"I hope all the stakeholders stay at the table for another two years," Palmer said.